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Two days after Edmonton police began escalating the tear down of homeless encampments in the city, the province says 30 people have come to a newly-opened reception centre to access services.

“Individuals have been connected to shelter and housing, mental health and addiction support, employment and financial services, and clinical services. Transportation is provided to everyone leaving the centre,” said Social Services Minister Jason Nixon in a brief statement Friday to Postmedia.

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It comes after Edmonton Police Chief Dale McFee announced an accelerated removal of the camps, along with a provincial reception centre to triage those being removed to social services on Wednesday. McFee referred to “hundreds” of camps around the city but said he couldn’t provide an estimate of those who might be impacted.

City of Edmonton spokeswoman Karen Zypchyn told Postmedia Friday that on Wednesday and Thursday, four encampments near Hope Mission and LRT Row were closed.

“Between these sites, 31 individuals were present at the time of assessment, and 24 expressed interest in additional supports and were transported to the government of Alberta’s navigation and support centre,” said Zypchyn, who added that occupants will be provided the time to remove their belongings before clean-up.

Deputy Police Chief Warren Driechel said at Thursday’s police commission meeting the service no longer needed to provide 48 hours’ notice before tearing down encampments.

Police spokeswoman Cheryl Voordenhout told Postmedia that since Wednesday, 48 people have accepted transport to a shelter. Two people were arrested on warrants, but police vacated — or cleared — their warrants before taking them to a shelter.

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At an unrelated news conference Thursday, Nixon said “about half of the individuals that were interacted with by the Edmonton police service and our department yesterday at encampments went to the navigation centre, and ultimately would go on to receive services within our social services system.”

Since Wednesday’s announcement, city crews began dismantling multiple homeless encampments near Gateway Boulevard and 71 Avenue, near Bissell Centre, and the Hope Mission — some of which had already been removed earlier in January.

In a Friday news release, the Edmonton Coalition on Housing and Homelessness (ECOHH) called it a “declaration of war.”

“The danger to health and lives is increased by this new assault on campers. We have seen millions of dollars spent on these actions over the past years with no positive results,” said chair Nadine Chalifoux.

ECOHH criticized the provincial government for what it called a “deliberate murkiness” about the actual number and type of shelter spaces available.

Nixon has repeatedly said there is no shortage of emergency shelter beds in Edmonton, and defended the safety of those spaces even as advocates and people with lived experience have said they are inadequate or inappropriate. The government hasn’t been transparent about shelter-bed details since major encampment clearings began in late December.

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Hours after the provincial government posted a new website listing 1,771 emergency shelter spaces at 83 per cent capacity on Wednesday, staffers from Nixon’s office were posting new numbers to social media, rendering the website’s existing seven-day average obsolete.

On Thursday, Heather Barlow, Nixon’s press secretary, told Postmedia as of Wednesday 1,801 spaces were open, including 30 spaces at the new provincial navigation centre, and 295 “emergency transitional spaces,” like those offered by the Operation Friendship Society, Urban Manor Housing Society, and Salvation army.

Transitional housing is a type of temporary supportive housing used to connect those experiencing homelessness to permanent housing. It is not emergency shelter.

Barlow said Edmonton’s shelter system has not gone over capacity this winter, and on Wednesday night, 1,477 shelter spaces were occupied. She added that 215 spaces are expected to be added at Hope Mission, Niginan Housing Ventures, The Mustard Seed, and Elizabeth Fry when construction is complete.

— With files from David Bloom, Shaughn Butts, Greg Southam and Cindy Tran

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X: @reportrix

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